The Athens County Commissioners approved putting a 3-mill levy on the November ballot to support the Athens County Children Services Board yesterday.
Children Services currently has two 10-year levies to place children in foster homes and pay for clothing and medical care, said Andrea Reik, Deputy Director of Programs for the Athens County Children Services Board.
The proposed 3-mill levy will replace a 1.5-mill levy Children Services passed in 1997. Children Services also passed a 2-mill levy in 2000 that will continue through 2010.
The levy is necessary because there has been an increase in the number of kids cared for by Children Services, Reik said. Through the '90s, Children Services had about 55 children in custody each month, but in 2000, it had about 90, she said.
I know this tax year we were averaging 121 children in agency custody a month
Reik said, adding the organization had no way to plan for this increase of children when the last levy was on the ballot.
In 2000, the board spent about $950,000 on the placement and care of children. It spent about $1.9 million in 2004, she said.
If the 3-mill levy passes in November, it will replace the 1.5-mill levy passed in 1997, Reik said.
Assuming (the November levy passes) we will immediately discontinue the 1997 1.5-mill levy
she said. This is the first increase we have asked for in 18 years.
In 2003, Children Services received 49 percent of its funding from the federal government and 42 percent from levy funding. The organization received about 10 percent of its funding from the state.
In other news, the commissioners approved small changes to floodplain regulations. Those changes will clarify the regulations, said Bob Eichenberg, Athens County Planning Director.
The new regulations, which will take effect next month, include clearer definitions and new maps of the floodplains, Eichenberg said.
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Andrea Golby
Increased number of children in custody leads to need for more funding in Athens County
